Libby Hemphill research and posts on social media, collaboration, and related technologies

Coming full circle

Remember way back in 2000 when I started working at Hubbard Online?  They later became Hubbard One, and then eventually were snapped up by Thomson.  John Fish, Hubbard's man-in-charge at the time, had a brother who owned some coffee shops in their native SE Michigan.  At least, I think it was his brother.  Anyway, Bob Fish owned some coffee shops called BEANER'S, and he wanted a website.  So, at some point that first year, I was tasked with building him one.  It was a bear bones HTML job handed off from the excellent Hubbard designers to the company's newest intern.  Beaner's (I'm protesting their egregious use of capital letters) wasn't the first site I worked on, but it was certainly near the beginning of my Hubbard tenure.  Now, here we are, 7 years later, and I'm sitting in a Beaner's coffee shop in Ann Arbor, MI, working on my dissertation proposal. Someone at Hubbard, or some other web shop, has updated their site since it was first built, but seeing it and sitting here gave me a bit of nostalgia.

I learned many things while at Hubbard - ASP, .NET, database architecture, how to eat lunch in the loop for less than $5, JavaScript, that project management is enticing, all kinds of things.  The skills that have come in most handy lately, though, are those I acquired during breaks and over lunch while I was schooled at the foosball table.  During my summer as an intern, I had a bunch of free time during which the other interns and many of the systems guys and developers would beat up on each other at the company foosball table.  That poor table endured a lot of abuse, and I'm sure it was a party to more secrets than any other piece of furniture in the place.  My favorite foosball memory was Chris yelling, "I love myself!" after making a particularly impressive shot.  I think that happened during the last company tournament in which I competed.

Thanks to Microsoft Research, we have a foosball table at SI North as well.  This table is much more well-built than the one at Hubbard, but it doesn't see nearly as much action.  I'd like to see some revival of the SI North foosball "community." I understand that there are a few of us who rarely, if ever, lose, but that shouldn't prevent anyone from challenging any of us.   I'm willing to clear the database and start everyone off with a clean slate in the foosball ladder.  Maybe we'll even see a school tournament later in the summer.  Until people at SI North start playing again, you can find me schooling cocky wanna-bes at Leopold Bros. and in Bill's basement.

What's my point, you ask?  Well, I wanted you all to know that even though summer internships often feel like a waste, they are not.  You may get lucky like I did and learn not only how to build web apps but also how to talk smack and score goals on an angle.  See you at the tables!

Sunshine comes to Michigan

The sun finally came out this weekend in Michigan, and it was a balmy 65+ degrees for 3 whole days! I used the weekend to indulge in two of summer's affordances - baseball and ice cream.

Friday night I went to my first MLB game of the season - Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers. It's hard for me to chose a team in this match up. In junior high I was a big White Sox fan. I watched their games on SportsChannel and loved hearing Hawk and Wimpie (sp) call the shots. "You can put it on the bo-ard, yee-es!" was a good one. The strike turned me off baseball for quite a while. When I came back to the MLB, it was as a Cubs fan. I'd given in to my inner yuppie and joined the ranks of northside residents who cheered on the worst team in baseball. Cubs fans can't understand how I could have a soft spot of any kind for the White Sox, but they don't have the complicated relationship with SportsChannel, WGN, the south side, and Wrigley that I do. Now that I live in Michigan, I've caught a bit of Detroit fever. Tigers fans were loyal through a rough couple of decades, and I can respect that. They also have Magglio Ordonez, the man who awarded me with the only baseball I've ever caught at a game. Of course, at the time, he was playing for the White Sox. I went to the game with 4 other people who had already volunteered that they would be cheering for the Tigers. I like to be contrary, so not surprisingly, I decided to go with my White Sox roots and bought a "throwback" hat.

I sported my Sox hat proudly into Comerica Park and watched the southsiders beat the Tigers despite a most embarrassing error in the outfield. 3 players were within a few feet of a routine fly ball, and it dropped in front of them. Ouch. Anyway, the Sox won; I had a fun.

Some of those same fans and I ventured to Lansing, MI for a Lugnuts game Sunday afternoon. It was my first Lugnuts game (and my friend Serene's first baseball game ever). I still prefer MLB to its farm team affiliates, but I had a great time eating my SnoKone. The Lugnuts aren't a powerhouse, but it's early in the season.

I tried to entice all my First Street neighbors to ice cream on Saturday, but I got no bites. Luckily Sunday evening Rachael was ready for ice cream, so we took a walk and stopped by the Washtenaw Dairy. The place was packed, and smelling sunscreen, eating ice cream, and wearing flip flops all made it feel like a great summer day. Now, back to our regularly scheduled month - April.